Saturday, February 19, 2011

More free trade agreements coming

President Obama just announced he will push for the proposed Colombia and Panama free trade agreements.

What did candidate Obama have to say about free trade?

There’s no doubt that NAFTA needs to be amended. I’ve already said I would contact the president of Mexico and the prime minister of Canada to make sure that labor agreements are enforceable. But I did want to just go back briefly to the issue of trade and human rights that you had mentioned. We have to stand for human rights, and that should be part of the trade equation. . . .

Obama will fight for a trade policy that opens up foreign markets to support good American jobs. He will use trade agreements to spread improved labor and environmental standards around the world and stand firm against agreements like the Central Amercan Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) that fail to live up to those important standards. . . .

Look, people don’t want a cheaper T-shirt if they’re losing a job in the process. They would rather have the job and pay a little bit more for a T-shirt. And I think that’s something that all Americans could agree to.

About Me

Lifelong Democrat; Former president, Broward County, Florida Young Democrats; Former member, Broward County, Florida Democratic Executive Committee; Former city commissioner, City of Cooper City, Florida; Graduate, The University of Florida; Practicing attorney, Miami, Florida; Member, The Florida Bar; Member, North American Snowsports Journalists Association; Broward County Young Democrats' Trailblazer of the Year, 1994; Broward County Young Democrats' Young Democrat of the Year, 1996.